The Region

Two Orange County prosecutors running for the same judgeship filed separate lawsuits, each alleging that the other made false claims in candidate statements. James M. Brooks and Paul Robbins sought separate court orders for the deletion of allegedly misleading and untrue material from the statements, to be mailed to voters before the Nov. 4 election. Brooks and Robbins are the two runoff candidates for Central Orange County Municipal Judge, District 9. Brooks won 47.6% and Robbins 37.6% of the vote in the June 3 primary. Superior Court Commissioner Eleanor Palk ordered hearings in both cases for Sept. 3. Brooks is a 13-year veteran of the district attorney's office. His lawsuit alleges that Robbins made false statements by claiming that Brooks misused county property. Attached to Brooks' lawsuit was a sworn statement signed by his boss, Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks, stating that the claim is false. Robbins, a Long Beach prosecutor who lives in Irvine, claims that Brooks' campaign statement falsely portrayed the results of a survey of county lawyers' rating of candidates for judgeships before the June 3 primary. Brooks falsely portrayed the results of the survey to make it appear that he received a higher rating, Robbins' lawsuit claims. Each candidate asked that A.E. Olson, county registrar of voters, be directed to delete the offending material from the other's candidate statements.